Atlantis is Away!

STS-135 is underway...Atlantis is in orbit.

You can follow the mission at NASA.

Hope to have a video of the launch to post later.

UPDATE: Here's the promised video.

Atlantis lifts off on July 8.

Last time.

Last one.

Ever.

Endeavour is Home

Endeavour safely home while Atlantis is being moved to the launch pad. One step closer to the end.

Endeavour Docks at the Space Station

Its a good mission. All is going well.

Last Launch of Endeavour

Today the Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted gracefully into space for the last time. A beautiful and impressive event.

From the NASA web site:

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. 

During the 16-day mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for Dextre.

The final flight honors go to Atlantis on STS-135. The target date for the launch is June 28.

A summary of 132 launches

Not only is the shuttle the most complicated machine every built, it has the most complicated lift-off of any rocket.  As you can see in an earlier post, the main shuttle engines are not pointed straight down but rather at an angle to the thrust of the solid fuel rocket. This causes the entire shuttle to lift off at a bit of an angle.

Then there's the roll maneuver that starts just after clearing the tower. Then the jettison of the external tank and the release of the solid fuel rockets. Beautiful. Breath-taking. Awe inspiring.

Perhaps the future will bring us an even more amazing piece of technology. Don't hold your breath.

Salute the end of an era

Space exploration will never be the same. Many have spent their whole lives knowing that the shuttle Discovery will fly again soon. All good things come to an end.

Space Shuttle

For those of you out there that are devoted space shuttle fans, here's the video for you. I have always thought that the lift off was a graceful and dramatic event with the roll maneuver happening just after it clears the tower. On this lengthy video you can see it in slow motion.

The multiple camera angles and the high-speed photography are truly impressive. Enjoy this farewell to the end of an era.

PandA will soon have it's own memento of this amazing machine and the exploration it made possible. We have ordered a tile from one of the decommissioned shuttles. The thermal properties are still difficult to conceive even after all these years of seeing it work.